STEM LEADER TRAINING

Paige Bennett, Heather Misztak and Sarah Parris

"I have visited Cloverleaf Elementary and Ford Elementary. These schools are truly implementing STEM in their units. Ford had STEM in their units as well as year long PBLs for each grade level. I now have a better understanding of STEM and the implementation of it into instruction. I feel a little better about different forms of technology that I can use with the kids. I am incorporating more PBLs and technology into units." - Katie Mathis, 2nd grade teacher

"I visited Cloverleaf Elementary. Their gardens were really neat! I enjoyed seeing how involved their students were with the process. I really liked some of the centers that the PreK and Kindergarten classes were doing. I wanted to incorporate these into my lower grades centers and students with lower instructional levels for foundation lessons. I have enjoyed working some of the number stations into my center time." - Lindsey Nasworthy, Exceptional Education Teacher

"I went to Clear Creek Elementary. My primary takeaway was that they had a special area dedicated to STEM. They learned how to use their journals and the equipment so that the time spent in the classroom was spent working on the projects instead of learning the equipment." - Holly Stanley

"The school I visited had a wonderful vegetable garden. Each class was doing a different activity, so each 1st grade class rotated through all the activities. After visiting, I set up some STEM stations in my room to help students understand the main concept." - Madonna Harris, 1st grade teacher

"I visited Cloverleaf Elementary. My primary take-aways were that the use of journaling seemed a helpful tool in getting students to self-reflect, and that learning about a STEM subject through multiple disciplines (crafts, reading, writing, discussion) led to deeper, more engaging learning. I would like to implement a journaling or portfolio aspect to learning in my music classroom." - Matthew Nedvin, Music Teacher

"I visited Hamilton Crossing. My primary takeaway was how they had the chicken coop set up. The school was involved in the process. I also saw a timeline of their STEM progression. I would like to start a timeline and involve the students." - Vannesa Estrada, 1st grade teacher

"I visited Adairsville Elementary. Their teams worked well together to make sure everything flowed and make it clear to see what the objectives were. They did a great job utilizing their STEM journals. I am working on utilizing STEM journals in my own classroom and making them student driven (no printouts)." - Brittney Nichols, 2nd grade teacher

"I visited White Elementary. One thing that I noticed throughout the school was the focus on "The 4 C's of Learning" - creativity, communication, collaboration, and critical thinking. Also, I noticed students (at various grade levels) were writing more in their STEM journals of which I have been having students do." - April Lanham, 2nd grade teacher

"My visit was to Euharlee Elementary. My primary takeaways were school-wide activities and the STEM room explicitly for materials. I saw great use of STEM journals. They were more student-based, and students are able to add information as needed. If students had an idea or thought, they could add to their journal without having a prompt. Journals were more student-led." - Dee Smith, 3rd grade teacher